Page:European treaties bearing on the history of the United States and its dependencies.djvu/43

 3. Treaty between Spain and Portugal, concluded at Alcaçovas, September 4, 1479. Ratification by Spain, March 6, 1480. [Ratification by Portugal, September 8, 1479.]

INTRODUCTION.

In 1460 the Infante Henry died and the sovereignty of the newly discovered lands became vested in the crown of Portugal. King Alfonso V., however, whose chief ambitions were to extend his Moorish conquests and annex Castile, did not directly concern himself with continuing the work of explo­ ration. This was left to private enterprise, and the impetus given by the infante gradually wore itself out, although the Guinea trade was actively prosecuted.

In 1475 Alfonso invaded Castile, and, to strengthen his pretensions to that country, became betrothed to the Princess Joanna, Queen Isabella's rival for the Castilian crown. The resulting War of Succession extended beyond the limits of the peninsula into the Canary Islands, where the Portuguese aided the natives against the Castilians; and it gave the Castilians the chance to engage vigorously in trade with Guinea--a country which, in spite of the bull Romanus pontifex, they continued to claim. As the result of preliminary negotiations held at Alcántara in March, 1479, between Queen Isabella of Castile and her aunt, the Infanta Beatrice of Portugal, the bases for a settle­ ment were laid, and it was agreed that a peace should be negotiated and con­ cluded in Portugal.

In the following June, in pursuance of this agreement, Queen Isabella despatched Dr. Rodrigo Maldonado, of Talavera, a lawyer i